Vermont inventor creates backyard Zamboni

Damian Renzello has been searching for smooth ice for years. Now he has created the ultimate outdoor backyard dream machine for ice lovers — the backyard Zamboni.

Renzello, who invented the Porta-Rinx, a backyard portable ice skating rink kit, and the Bambini, a pull-behind ice resurfacing unit, now has the solution for sale.

He has mounted a snow blower on the front of a four-wheel all-terrain vehicle, added an ice scraper blade underneath and mounted a water tank connected to pipes and hoses that lays down a film of water to create a glass-like finish to outdoor ice.

Called the Bambini Revolution, the machine will sell for about $30,000 to outdoor ice skating enthusiasts.

Renzello, 36, started his fascination with backyard ice nine years ago when his mother wondered why someone couldn't design a portable rink that could be taken down after the winter season. He designed his first kit and now has sold 325 backyard rinks.

After a couple of years of flooding his rinks with a hose, Renzello came up with an ice resurfacing machine, the Bambini, and then followed with an ice shaving machine.

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Recently, a customer in California wanted one of his ride-on ice mowers with a Bambini pull-behind resurfacer to create a 10,000-square-foot skating surface for her children. But the client also wanted to remove snow from the outdoor pond. Renzello, who had been thinking about putting his inventions into one machine, said he had the answer.

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He combined all the technologies into the Bambini Revolution. It will clear snow, scrape ice smooth and leave a layer of water on the ice to bring it to a glassy finish. The scraper blade smooths the bumps from ice and pipes release heated water that bonds to the existing ice, leaving a smooth skating surface as it hardens.

Renzello delivered his first unit this weekend to his California customer.

And he notes the Bambini is an all-purpose machine. It can serve as a snowblower to clear a driveway, it can mow a lawn in summer and it can spread liquid fertilizer from its tank.